Gardaí Investigating Indecent Exposure And Attacks

Three Trout Bridge

ith Greystones’ WhatsApp groups and social media sharing reports and sightings over the past month, gardaí are now investigating two attacks that occurred around Mill Road.

All seem to centre around the same man as the various descriptions of the attacker match up.

The latest incident occurred on Thursday, January 11th at 8.30am when a schoolgirl was followed from Glenheron as she headed to Greystones Community College. Along Mill Lane (which runs up beside Aldi), the man, according to one social media post, ‘exposed himself and asked her if she liked‘.

On December 22, 2023, a mother had also taken to social media to describe how her 13-year-old boy was on his way home from rugby when a man ‘came out of the bushes and tried to drag him into a bush’. Luckily, continued the woman, ‘my son is clever, fit and strong‘, and sprinted home, ‘shaken but ok‘.

Both incidents echo other unconfirmed reports on social media in roughly the same location and of a similar nature, including a woman being approached on January 6th by a man asking her ‘to come talk to me‘, and another mother revealing a few days later that her daughter and her friend had been followed from SuperValu in Charlesland who ‘put his hands down his pants‘.

The man has been described by a few witnesses as wearing a tracksuit and hoodie whilst also carrying a backpack, and has been reportedly on Blacklion Manor Road and Chapel Road too, where another witness described his black, man-bun hair. These could be two separate men, of course.

Greystones Community College principal Ruairi Farrell wrote to parents following the latest incident, advising them to be vigilant and to report any suspicious behaviour directly to Greystones gardaí.

Talking of which, they’ve issued the following statement: “Gardaí at Greystones are aware of several incidents of suspicious approaches reported in the area. Gardaí are following a definite line of inquiry and the investigation is ongoing, and increased patrols have been sanctioned. We would like to advise members of the public to remain calm and report any concerns to Gardaí at your local station or 999.”

In the meantime, advice in any such incidents is to scream loudly for help, pay attention to any identifying details (hair and eye colour, any tattoos or piercing, their age and height) before running away from the offender to a safe location and reporting the incident to the gardaí.

Worth keeping in your phone, the number for the Greystones garda station is 016665800.